Cronin: I don't think it's Malema

Johannesburg - SA Communist Party deputy general secretary Jeremy Cronin said on Sunday he finds it hard to believe that threatening SMSes he's received are from ANCYL leader Julius Malema.

"I can't actually believe they are from Julius Malema but they are signed 'Julius Malema'. I find it hard to believe that he would send [them]," the SABC quoted Cronin as saying.

The ANCYL could not be reached for comment.

City Press reported on Sunday that Malema had sent a threatening SMS to Cronin following the former's embarrassing appearance at the SACP conference.

"If you thought you have taught me a lesson, wait until you see what is coming your direction," Malema reportedly texted Cronin after he was booed at the SACP's conference in Polokwane.

City Press reported that several leaders within the ANC and SACP have confirmed the SMS

Cronin would not confirm the SMS to the paper and would only describe Malema's language as "rather loose...I ignore that kind of thing".

"We want to have a constructive relationship, not with individuals but with the ANCYL collective," Cronin.

Last month, Cronin and Malema exchanged combative words.

In the SACP newsletter, Cronin said that those who called for nationalisation of mines, such as Malema, did not understand the economics of the issue. Malema fired back, accusing Cronin of being a "white messiah".